I got an idea for a non-fiction book and am working on a proposal. I will do it regardless but thought it may also help when I finish my next project. Thanks in advance!
If you have a non-fiction book published, is it easier to get a novel accepted?
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Get the non-fiction one published first, then you will have a publishing credit to send with your novel query. To me, they are different skills but as I am published in non-fiction and I have partials out on two novels, I can't really comment! 
Time will tell if my non-fiction background was helpful, if either novel is eventually accepted but it was mentioned as part of my author bio.
Time will tell if my non-fiction background was helpful, if either novel is eventually accepted but it was mentioned as part of my author bio.
I've had a couple of non-fiction titles published, and it had no effect on my selling novels. Zip.
Tri
Tri
I guess it can't hurt to tell the fiction publishers you got a non-fiction work out there, but the two are still different genres. So their judgment of your novel will still be the main determining factor.
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Having non-fiction sales on your resume tells an editor that someone else thought your words were worth buying.
But it won't necessarily help sell a work of fiction. The demands are different.
Your fiction will sell if you write well.
But it won't necessarily help sell a work of fiction. The demands are different.
Your fiction will sell if you write well.
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No, not directly. But it does make it more likely that you're writing at a professional level and you'll know a bit about working with editors.
Other than that -- fiction and non-fiction are different skills.
Other than that -- fiction and non-fiction are different skills.
If the non-fiction book is a whopping best seller and it lands you on Oprah and is reviewed on the front page of the Sunday Times Book Review, then you can bet a lot of editors will want to publish whatever you write.
Anything less than that: not so much.
Anything less than that: not so much.
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